Research and Development
by Christian Maulkner
Summary: The White Spire Foundation, Remnant's one and only R&D facility, located in the northern regions of Atlas and famed for providing the CCT to the four kingdoms. After graduating from the Vale School for Robotics, Jaune Arc applies at the foundation. Together with his forgetful sister and a bunch of new friends he's made, things are about to get way crazier than usual at White Spire.
1. Chapter 1

Jaune watched through the window as the frosted land below zoomed by, blurred by the fast speed of the bullhead they were in. There was nothing but mountains of thick snow for miles on end, with the occasional large ice spike jutting out of the ground here and there. A dull, gray color replaced the usual clear blue of the sky as snow continued to fall; which was to be expected in such a cold environment.

Though a few might have found the current scenery calm and comfy, there was really nothing to like for Jaune. It wasn't that he absolutely despised the cold (winter was his second most favorite season, and he often liked the idea of a drinking a cup of cocoa while staring out at a snowy forest). He was just really used to lively environments back in Vale — clear blue skies, chirping birds, and overall just any sign that meant there was life in a certain place.

But this, there were no signs at all. Honestly, it looked more like a barren wasteland than anything. Like one of those settings in the sci-fi movies he used to watch when he was young. Hell, it was so desolate, there weren't even any Grimm he could see.

_Maybe they're all buried in the snow. _The blonde thought, chuckling at the image of a Beowolf trying to dig its way out of the thick snow. It may have seemed sadistic, and it could be reasonable to label him as such at first glance, but the Grimm weren't exactly the kind of creatures you'd be thinking nice thoughts about. They're probably even more sadistic than greatest sadists of Remnant combined.

Anyway, as he continued to stare blankly at the frozen barrenness below, he felt something tug on his hoodie sleeve.

"Wha'chu looking at?" A voice behind said.

Bringing his eyes over to his side, he saw his sister lean in toward the window beside him, her head practically resting on his shoulder. Just like him, she had the same shade of golden blonde hair, albeit tied up in a ponytail that reached down to just below her neck. Sporting a similar set of azure blue eyes, her young face was more pink-tinted than his. It was probably make up, though Jaune doubted that — her sister never wore any make up, at least when he was around. And lastly, she wore a dark brown, woolen sweater that looked warm and comfy, fit for the weather they were in. Couple that up with the pair of round, thin-framed glasses she was wearing, she looked like your average smart, geeky girl.

Which wasn't far from the truth, really.

His sister raised a curious eyebrow, waiting for his answer. Jaune simply returned his gaze back to the window. "Eh. Nothing, really. Just the snow."

"Just the snow? Really?" She echoed, her voice adopting an incredulous tone. Then she leaned away from him and crossed her arms. "Come on, Jaune. I know you're boring at times, but you can't be that boring."

Jaune immediately turned around, pouting as he pointed a finger at her older sister. "I'm not boring!" He exclaimed, keeping his voice down a bit for fear of being shushed by the other passengers. Jaune may have been many things; frail, stupid in certain areas, and socially awkward (that, most especially). But one thing was for sure, he was not _boring!_

He glared down hard at her smug face. Despite being taller than her, the way her sister smirked and tilted her head made him feel like a little kid going up against a grown up (which was technically the case). But he wasn't going to let age get in the way!

She teased, "Oh, really? You're not boring?" Her hand came up to cover her mouth, stifling her laughter, "Says the one who's named Jaune."

Fists clenched, the younger blonde groaned in annoyance. "Oh yeah? W-Well, at least mine's not something dumb like _Valentina."_

His sister's eyes widened for a split second, before her eyebrows furrowed in light anger and she shot a finger at him. "Woah, hey hey hey, now. Valentina is a good name, alright? It's the right length, sexy, and sounds nice. Guys love it!" She said, lifting a finger up as if she was stating a trivia fact.

Crossing her arms, she continued, "And unlike yours, at least I get to have good nicknames. Valley, Valen, and most especially Val. That one's good. Now what do you have?" She stifled her laughter, "Jauney? Jaune-Jaune? Vomit Boy?"

Jaune stood his ground with a hard stare at her teasing sister, though inwardly he was whining and pouting like a little kid. He never liked any of those nicknames. They were so dumb, and he honestly wished Val and his other sisters had never come up with them. Most especially 'Vomit Boy'. Gods, how he despised that name. And it was all because he couldn't handle his stomach that one time when they were on a bullhead ride into Vale. He was ten at the time, and he had also been forced to finish Hazel's horrible, horrible mushroom omelette porridge before that trip for crying out loud!

With a shaky voice, he retorted, "O-Oh yeah? W-Well… at least I don't forget formulas that are so basic, schools might as well teach them to kindergarteners!"

Val gasped, her hand to her chest in a shocked expression. She shot him an offended look. "Woah! Okay, first off, it's a medical condition, alright? You can't blame me. This brain was destined to be forgetful without my control, so it's not my fault. And secondly… uh… crap…" Looking off to the side, the older blonde scratched her head, seemingly trying to rack her brain for what she had been going to say next. Jaune inwardly rolled his eyes at the irony of it.

Three seconds passed, and Val perked up, continuing, "Ah! And secondly, you were basically using my disability as an insult! Which is like, not cool at all, and made you sound very desperate."

The younger blonde raised an eyebrow. "So… you're admitting that you're disabled?"

Before he could laugh at his sister's mistake, Val immediately brought a fist back and punched him hard on the shoulder, causing him to yelp.

"Ow!" Jaune jumped away from her, hitting the window with his back. He brought a hand up and cradled his likely bruising arm, wincing when it stung at his touch.

Fist still clenched, Val asked in a threatening tone, "Still gonna make fun of my forgetfulness?"

Jaune quickly shook his head. "No, no, no, okay! You win! You win! I lost the argument! Please don't punch me again!" He hissed, his arm jerking when his fingers brushed the spot where fist struck. Definitely going to bruise. Though she didn't look like much, her sister could punch hard. It was almost comparable to the punches from the huntsmen back home in Ansel. Especially the huntresses. Those stung, and Jaune knew full well how painful their punches were, thanks to a pot of coffee and a rug.

_Still wasn't my fault I spilled the coffee all over Crystal though, no matter how much the others say it was._

Val snuggled back into her seat, putting on that smug smile Jaune knew all too well from his plentiful array of older sisters. Groaning in defeat, he leaned his head back on his seat and resumed his looking out the window. Silence hung around the two siblings for a moment or so as Jaune continued to stare at the icy wasteland below, the previous heat from their quarrel fading away. It always ended like this. Whenever he and either one of his sisters got into a squabble, they would always end it with a truce or admission of defeat. Then they would hang out, likely go and watch a movie in the living room or eat anything that wasn't Hazel's cooking together. This happened with every one of his sisters, whether they were younger or older. And though he was usually on the losing side of those feuds, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Jaune let out an amused huff as he recalled a certain night from years ago. It was with one of his younger sisters, Salia, when she had begun questioning on the state of his non-existent love life again while they had been in the living room, like she always did when it was just them alone. Of course, Jaune had immediately went to defend himself, saying that she didn't even have a boyfriend herself. Which then led to Salia making use of his slip-up, going on to say that it had been no wonder that Jaune had no girlfriend. And so, the argument had went on for about half an hour as they exchanged retorts and counters. Eventually, Jaune gave up and admitted defeat, then had to endure his little sister's annoying victory dance for a minute straight. It had been like torture for him, seeing her celebrate him being a loser. But like always, it hadn't been so bad. Eventually, they had agreed to eat ice cream together in the living room while they watched a movie or two, all before passing out on the couch, ending the night on a peaceful note.

Jaune sighed, resting his cheek on his propped up arm. "You know, I'm gonna miss them."

He heard Val lift her head up from her seat, feeling her eyes on him. "Miss who?"

Jaune couldn't help but roll his eyes. _A__lways the forgetful one.'_

He turned to face his sister. "You know, the others. Salia, Saphron, Crystal, Hazel… but not her cooking though. The gods know I wouldn't miss that, jeez."

The older blonde chuckled. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it either. But hey," She patted him on the shoulder, a warm smile on her face, "It's not like you're going away on some… big adventure up in the northern regions to recover some ancient relic or something. You can still call them once in a while."

"Yeah, I know, but…" He sighed, "Seeing them through a screen and seeing them in person isn't exactly the same."

"Oh come on, Jaune," Her hand squeezed on his shoulder as she lightly shook him, "It's not gonna be that bad. I mean, look at me. I've been away and working for years now, and it's not like I'm getting homesick every few seconds."

"Maybe that's because you keep forgetting about us every few second- Ow!"

Jaune flinched back, his hand lightly protecting the bruised spot on his arm where she had poked him.

_Yup, one-hundred percent bruised._

With furrowed eyebrows, Val chided him, "I thought we were over this already? It's a medical condition. Not my fault."

"Okay, okay, sorry. Medical condition, gotcha. Ooo.. Ow..."

"So, as I was saying," Val continued, "It's not gonna be so bad. After all, we have our own CCT tower where we can chat with family and stuff all we want, just as long as it isn't during work times. And it's not like you'll be the only one working there. There are tons of new faces you can meet there, some of which share the same passion as you, and I'm gonna working with you as your supervisor. And…" She leaned in close to Jaune's ear, and whispered, "If I remember correctly, there's this new rookie in the Weapons Division. A bit crazy obssessed with weapons, but cute, and single! You should definitely go after her when you get the chance."

The younger blonde pushed his sister's head away. "Oh, give it rest, Val."

Val snickered. "Hey, I'm just looking out for my little brother." The older blonde said, ruffling his hair and earning an annoyed groan from him. She brought her hand back and continued, "Anyway, don't you worry about being homesick, Jaune. After all," She gestured to herself with extravegance, "You're stuck with me until Remnant's end!"

Jaune shook his head, but smiled at his sister's antics nonetheless. One of the things he secretly hoped would never change as well.

Shrugging, he said, "Well, if you put it like that, I guess it wouldn't be so bad. But still, it won't stop the bit of homesickness that's gonna seep in, grow, and make me into a depressed mess for a week every once in a while."

Val raised an eyebrow. Her eyes drifted up, presumably to the window behind him, and smiled. "Oh, really? Well then, how about that? Would that help?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jaune turned around and looked out to the window behind him. His eyes immediately widened, his mouth gaping at the magnificent sight he was met with. "Whoa…"

Over in the distance, just behind a few mountains of snow and ice, was a floating chunk of land of enormous size, likely as big as Vale from the sheer capacity, held up by what looked like four massive thrusters and tethered to the snowy land below. He didn't know how big it actually was unless he was close, but he knew if it were just the size of a large village, it would be nothing more than a speck. The magnificent size wasn't the main selling point though, it seemed, for an array of ocean blue lights pierced through the snow, covering almost every building there was, all of which retained a clean, clinical white color theme throughout. There also seemed to be numerous bullheads flying to and from said buildings, carrying all sorts of cargo ranging from massive shipping containers to different kinds of machinery. And last but not the least, its base obscured by a few buildings, a tall and massive spire stood at the center, the top ending in a fat, disk-like shape — an observation deck or an area for visiting tourists if he had to guess — with an antenna extending up the top, repeatedly blinking a bright blue.

Jaune stared in awe as the floating island buzzed with activity, pressing his face against the glass like a little kid at a zoo. It looked so cool! It was like it was straight out of those sci-fi books he read as a kid!

Val's head popped in by the side of his head as she leaned in with him, smiling. "So, what do you think?"

"Awesome…" He said, smiling goofily as he watched a plethora of bullheads carrying what definitely looked like a giant robot of some sort. 'Gods, that is so cool!'

His sister chuckled as she patted him on the back. "Well, you're gonna have to get used to the awesomeness, 'cause that's where you'll be spending the better part of your life in from now on."

"Well, I can certainly live with that, because this is frickin' amazing!" He exclaimed, ignoring the numerous distant shushes aimed at him.

Val smiled. "Yup, it certainly is. Now come on," She ruffled his hair, though he could really care less if she messed up his hair now, and stood up, "We should start gathering our luggage up for the arrival. Which is around… two minutes from now."

Val began walking away from her seat over to the back end of the bullhead, but stopped in her tracks and made her way back over to where he was still sat awestruck.

She said, "Oh crap, I almost forgot! Here, you should pin this on once we get there."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pin, tossing the small item over to him. He caught it with a bit of a fumble, but once he got a grip on the small thing, he looked down at it. It was quite a small pin, with an all white symbol adorning it - a hollow circle at the edges, with a minimalistic silhouette of an android right in the middle.

His eyes widened in awe as he looked down on the symbol. He brought his eyes up to his grinning sister, silently asking if the badge in his hand was real.

She winked. "Welcome to the White Spire Foundation, Dr. Vomit Boy."

* * *

**Hello.**

**So, this is my first RWBY fanfic... ever... So, forgive me if I get some things from canon wrong since I've only watched up until Vol. 2, although I do wiki-dive every now and then for info.**

**Anyway, this story will be diverging a bit from canon, which means a lot of characters will have different backgrounds and events aren't just going to be copies of events from canon like the docks fight or Weiss getting bitchy for not being made the leader. There will be some arcs that'll take some concepts from canon though, but I try to put my own spin to them. There will also be some of my own OCs, like little forgetful Valentina over here. I'll try my best to make them feel like they're actually from and they've lived in Remnant, instead of just making them feel like powerful Mary Sue's/Gary Stu's.**

**This fic will also definitely have a harem, though Jaune will have to end up with only one girl. And judging by the setting, it's obvious who has the upper advantage in the Jaune bowl ;)**

**As for updates, they'll be slow. I'm currently in the last weeks of the school year and I'm just bombarded with projects and exams. But I'll try to update as much as I can, hopefully keeping a bi-weekly schedule, though no promises will be made.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the start of Jaune's new life in White Spire!**

**~Christian Maulkner**


	2. Chapter 2

Jaune hopped off the bullhead's ramp, feet landing on the snowy metal dock. Ocean blue eyes took in the scenery before him. It was as he had expected — cold and wintry. Snowflakes continued to descend upon the dock, the dull light gray that covered what would have been a sunny sky giving sign that the drizzle of snow wasn't going away any time soon.

It also meant that the frost was to stay for a long while. Being used to warm weather, the coldness was almost comparable to one of a snow storm right now. Even though he donned two hoodies and thick pair of pants, the chilly winds still managed to pierce through the fabric, biting his skin with their almost unbearable frost.

Jaune would have immediately gone and find somewhere warm — and probably stay there for a long while. But right now, with the scenery in front of him, he could care less if he froze to death.

As the other passengers from his flight walked past him, his eyes gazed in awe over the massive building a walking distance away. It would be an understatement to say it was huge. Sterile, spotless white walls stretched on from side to side for what could have been a mile and a half. Tall, uniform window panes revealed bits of the inside, though the blue tint of the glass made it hard to actually see anything in detail. Jaune thought it must have been designed that way by choice. After all, you wouldn't want any civilians or visitors knowing about an invention not meant for public eyes yet.

Bringing his eyes up, he caught sight of the white tower from a while ago, some parts of it obscured by a massive, blue-tinted glass dome that sat atop of the building's roof. A while ago, he had expected the tower to have been a little closer upon landing. But from the docks, the tower looked like it had been built way at the back of the hovering island, even though he was absolutely certain it was right in the center of everything. Goes to show how big White Spire really was.

As Jaune continued to take in the foundation, he heard a set of mushy and metallic footsteps coming towards him, followed by a slap on his back.

"Welcome, Dr. Vomit Boy," Val gestured to the entire land, theatrics flaring in her voice, "To the White Spire Foundation! Bum, bum, baaa~!"

"Yeah... you already told me that back in the bullhead."

Dropping her arm, the older blonde furrowed her eyebrows at him in confusion. "Wait, I did?" She cupped her chin, "Huh... Oh well, whatever! Anyway, let's go! I'll get you up to speed on the way."

The two siblings made their way off the docking platform down a set of stairs. Val was carrying one of Jaune's duffelbags while he carried the other one. The younger blonde would have offered to carry both of them and save her sister some slack, but considering the strength of the nasty punch she had sent him a while ago, he was sure she could handle a duffelbag full of clothes.

An array of heavily clothed people moved with them as the two headed towards the entrance, his sister getting him up to speed. "So, White Spire! Currently being oversaw by a Dr. Winston Lockman, it's the biggest, and one and only R&D in all of Remnant! It's known for creating more than half of the tech stuff people and the kingdoms' use, and more so for the creation of the CCT."

Jaune listened in as he gazed everywhere, gaping at everything he could. Val continued. "Now, it's divided into four divisions. There's the Weapons Division, Robotics Division, Dust Division, and Grimm Research. They're pretty self-explanatory."

She poked him on the cheek. "You, you're going to be working with me and bunch of others in Robotics. We'll be making tons of robotic stuff! Like giant manned battle bots, and even cute little robots that are just so adorable, you just wanna hug one and keep it to yourself for the rest of your life!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Why do I have a feeling you've tried to do that already?"

Val blew a raspberry. "Pffft, I don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, we need to do some stuff before you go to your orientation. Which are... uh..." She trailed off, mouth remaining agape and eyes shooting to the sky as she seemingly tried to recall. She eventually gave up and sighed. "Damn it, hold on..."

The older blonde dug a hand into her pocket. She rummaged around in it and pulled out a heavily creased piece of paper. Adjusting her glasses, she read, "Uh... we... Or well, _I_ need to take your stuff to the dorm... and you need to change into a business suit before orientation."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Why a business suit? Can't I just wear my hoodie?"

Val shrugged. "I dunno. Dress code stuff, I guess. I had to wear a dress to my orientation as well."

The younger blonde frowned. If there was one article of clothing that Jaune hated, it would be business suits. He was fine with a tucked in long sleeve paired with some slacks — he had worn that combo many times before, especially back in robotics school. But when it came to wearing those stiff coats and clicky leather shoes, that was where he drew the line. Not only were they hard to wash and take care of, they were incredibly uncomfortable. Especially during hot weather; he had no idea how anyone could stand around in the heat while wearing full, two-piece suits.

Same went for the cold as well. Perhaps it was just him, but the suits he wore were poorly ventilated. So when he had to sit in a cold, constantly air-conditioned room for half an hour, right under the AC, it had felt like he was right in the middle of an Atlesian snowstorm with no clothes on.

Oh, and don't get him started on ties. Those things... they were the devil. Whoever invented those monsters must have been the ruler of the Grimm, because holy crap, were they difficult to put on. They were also too tight no matter how many times he adjusted it. It was like they automatically tightened every time he loosened them or something. It was frustrating.

Hell, f he were faced with a choice of putting on a tie or getting launched off a cliff into a Grimm-infested forest, he'd probably choose the latter.

Val must have noticed his distress, for she lightly elbowed him, grabbing his attention. "Hey, come on now, it won't be so bad. You'll only be sitting around in a cozy, warm hall with a bunch of other suited rookies for half an hour until the opening speech ends."

"You just said half of what makes it bad, Val."

"Oh come on, Jaune." Val said, slapping him on the arm, "It can't be that bad. I mean, I had to wear a coat, pencil skirt and stockings in the same situation, and I didn't sweat one bit!"

"Maybe that's because you're a girl," Jaune raised a finger in a knowing manner, "After all, it's been scientifically proven than women sweat less tha-"

"Yeah, yeah, sciency schmiency gender differentiation stuff. Blah!" Val said, cutting him off and earning a frown from the younger blonde. She then grabbed his arm, tugging him forward, "Now come on, let's pick up the pace. We ain't got all day!"

The two siblings jogged their way over to the entrance. Or well, Val did; Jaune simply tried to keep up with his sister, making sure to not fall face first into the cold snow.

As the two got into the rather short line by the entrance, with Jaune right behind his sister, he noticed a commotion over at the front of the line. An eyebrow raised, he tilted to the side to get a better look.

A blonde woman, who looked as tall as him, was chatting with a scientist. Her golden hair was long and a bit curly at the end, almost reaching down to her waist. She had a rather curvy body, which showed itself in the uniform that she wore. It looked like to be security uniform, with a dark blue, skin-tight full body suit over white metallic plating that covered her arms, legs and... rather eye-catching chest. Pair that with long, lustrous legs and a young, fair face most women would kill for, it was impossible to not say she was beautiful.

And it was clear she knew that very well.

"Well, Dr. Baronn. We meet again." The beautiful blonde said, chewing a piece of gum as she crossed her arms.

A man with short, chocolate brown hair sighed in exasperation, pulling out his ID from his lab coat. "Hello... again..."

The security officer took the ID off his hand and began inspecting it. At least that was what Jaune had thought, for he noticed her eyes drifting over the information on the card with apathy. Baronn simply stood there, foot tapping on the snow as he watched the blonde's careless inspection.

After a moment or so, the blonde woman glanced up at the scientist, and grinned. "Well, you've certainly lost weight, Baronn."

"Others had told me as well." The scientist said, crossing his arms.

"Well, you should keep at it." She leaned forward, putting her face right up at the scientist's own, "Because you are looking _hella _fine."

"That's what you say to every other man here, who, I'm guessing, also happen to have lost weight." Baronn said, pushing the officer away by her shoulders, "And you do know I'm married, right?"

"Oh, I know, I know. But," She leaned foward once more, pushing against his arms and placing her face even closer to his, "That's what makes it even _hotter._"

Baronn seemed to have had enough of the blonde's antics though, almost shoving her away and stepping away from her. "Look, can I just have my ID and go? I have work to do!" Baronn yelled, fuming.

"Oh, boo! Fine then, have your ID, buzzkill." She halfheartedly tossed the card over to the scientist, who fumbled a bit as the ID bounced around in his hands, before finally catching it.

As the seething scientist made his way past the doors, the blonde slapped him on his bottom, causing him to yelp. "I'll see ya later, Baronn~! And make sure to bring some wine! The classy, super expensive kind!"

The red-faced scientist turned around and shot her a rather rude hand gesture. "Go to hell!"

The blonde woman chuckled at the retreating scientist before turning back to her work — a woman this time. As the line inched forward, Jaune leaned towards Val, pointing at the rather flirty officer.

"Hey, who's that?" He whispered.

"Hm?" Val hummed, following where his finger pointed. Her eyes caught the other blonde woman. "Oh, her? Yeah, that's Yang Xiao Long. She's head of security."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is she always like that?"

"Oh, all the fricking time." Val said, "Ever since day one, she keeps teasing and flirting with the male staff, mostly for her own entertainment. It annoys most of them, since most of them are married. Some though thought she was actually interested in them." An amused huff blew out of her nose, "You should have seen the last guy that tried to get with her. Fricking nasty."

"Why? What happened?"

Val shrugged. "I don't know, I forgot the whole story. Though I think it involved a previously new set of thrusters we were supposed to use on one of the robots."

Jaune's eyes widened, shuddering at the imagery that popped into his mind. Had Yang seriously incinerated a guy for trying to get with her, with an entire thruster no less? Sure, it was likely to have been untrue, considering it was _Val_ he was talking with. But he had known some pretty crazy girls back when he was still studying. And most of them... well... they certainly stayed true to their words.

Anyway, if what Val had said was actually true, how had she not gotten fired yet? You'd think they'd boot her off the second they got wind of her stunt. So, either she must have used some sort of loophole and gotten away with it, or... gotten rid of any witnesses...

The blonde gulped. _Note to self: Don't try to get with Yang. Ever._

The line inched forward once, twice more, right until it was Val's turn to show her ID.

"...remember, it's Card Night tonight!" Yang yelled to a distant, lab coat clad man, who's stiff body was currently speedwalking away from the entrance. She then turned to Val, and grinned at the sight of her fellow blonde.

"Well, well, if it isn't Little Miss Valley?" Yang said, cocking her hips to the side as she took Val's ID card. When her eyes shifted over to Jaune however, her eyebrows shot up, and she immediately drove her face up to his. They were practically nose-to-nose at this point.

"Oooh~" Her eyes turned to Val, "Who's this?"

Jaune's body stiffened, hormone-driven sweat already starting to pour out from the very close contact. Her lilac eyes were the only things he could see as he felt her warm breath landing upon his lips. It both tickled and threatened him, and things only got worse when he saw her lick the corner of her lips.

His breath began to quicken as fast as his heart beat, hands shaking uncontrollably like a pair of old, rickety machines. This was too much. Too much!

Thankfully, Val tugged him away from the blonde officer, stepping in between him and her. "This here is Jaune, my little brother. Just graduated from the Vale School for Robotics. He's applying for the Robotics Division."

"Ooh, Robotics Division, huh? You know..." She leaned forward towards him once more, facing Jaune over his sister's shoulder, "I have quite a thing for robotics scientists."

"That's what you say to everyone in the division, Yang." Val said, pushing her away. "Now, can we go now? If I remember correctly, I have a lot of stuff to do."

"Alright, alright. You can go." Yang said, throwing her thumb to the entrance.

After taking her ID back, Val walked on through the glass doors, Jaune quickly following suit. There was no way he was going to stay anywhere near that woman. No way in he-

However, before he could make it past the doors, he felt a tug on one of his hoodies, stopping him in his tracks. His body stiffened up once more as he felt the same warm breath puff softly onto the back of his ears.

"Hey, I know this old restroom in the North Wing that no one goes to. Maybe you and me can go check it out together... alone..."

"NOPE! I'm gone! I'm outta here! Goodbye!" Jaune exclaimed, pulling his hoodie away from her grasp. Yang's chuckle sounded from behind him as he swiftly walked away. Away from that... _woman._

His eyes gazed around as he caught up with his sister. They seemed to be in a main hall of some kind. A very large main hall, to be exact. There was a large, round reception desk at the very center of the room, people in white and blue colored suits tending to a bunch of scientists and holographic computers. Giant monitors were hung high above the desk, showing still images of the Foundation's logo - a simple white circle with a hollow white triangle inside jutting from the bottom, symbols of the different divisions surrounding said triangle.

All around, scientists bustled about. Some hung around and chatted with fellow co-workers, while a majority of others were on their way to work. There were three massive corridors to the west, north, and east side of the room, assumably going off to their respective wings. Up above, the giant glass dome still sat untouched, revealing the light gray sky and the snowflakes that continued to fall.

Catching up to his sister, Jaune gaped at the magnificence of everything. It was much bigger than he had anticipated. He had imagined the main hall as being more simple, similar to ones you would see in a hotel or something. So seeing the massive size of the Foundation's main hall was quite astonishing.

"Cool, huh?" His sister said beside him, seemingly noticing his awed gaping, "Just wait 'till you see our testing areas and labs. Cooler than ice."

"Yeah, prepare some duct tape 'cause you're going to have to tape my jaw in place for the entire day."

Val chuckled. "Noted. Anyway... uh... um... what were we going to do?"

Internally sighing, Jaune shook his head. "You were going to put my stuff in the dorm while I go change into a suit for the orientation." He reminded her. This was going to be a common occurence, wasn't it?

A wave of epiphany flashed on her face as she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! Right, your suit. Now... uh... um... oh great, hold on." She pulled out another creased paper from her pocket, and read it, "Uh... I've... already got a suit for you to wear. I left it in a locker room in-"

Suddenly, the older blonde was immediately cut off when a tremor shook the entire main hall. Jaune and Val, along with the scientists around them stopped in their tracks and scanned about, looking for the source of the sudden tremble. There was another tremor, and another, the increasingly harsh vibrations threatening to shake the monitors above the reception desk loose.

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Jaune looked to his sister for answers. "What was... that?"

"Don't know." His sister said with a shrug.

The sound of a ringing scroll sounded from within Val's pocket, bringing his attention towards the Val's scroll as she pulled it out. He peered his eyes to look who would be calling her sister, but he couldn't recognize the number.

She tapped on the answer button, and put the scroll up to her ear. "Val here... What...? You... No. No... You've gotta be kidding me, right?"

Another tremor, the images on the monitors flickering from the shaking. Val, meanwhile, groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fox, I thought I told you to look after the project! You- Ugh, you know what, let's not mind that right now. Just go and call the Containment Un-"

But before she could finish, another quake literally shook the entire main hall, bringing Val, Jaune, and multiple others tumbling to their bottoms.

"Oof!" Jaune grunted once he hit the ground. Distant sounds of screeching metal and crashes, which sounded like they came from above, followed and became louder with each tremor, up until they were the only things he could hear, deafening and threatening to pop his ear drums.

Jaune snapped his eyes up to the glass dome. At least, what had once been a glass dome for a glance, right before a giant, bipedal robot landed onto the roof with a loud crash. Its steel limbs were long, massive and riddled with thick carbon wires, some of which had already snapped, yet the inposing thing still stood functional. All of these limbs were then connected to a central control pod, its shape similar to the front end of a bullhead, dark blue tinted glass obscuring whoever was controlling the massive contraption, and a pair of large thrusters attached to the back.

Jaune watched with timorous eyes as a ginormous, metal fist reared back and shattered the whole dome in one swift punch. Glass rained down onto the hall, and he had to cover his head lest he get blinded by the shards. Once it cleared, he brought his eyes up again, yelping when the fuzz and feedback of a microphone boomed through the room.

"BOW DOWN TO ME, MY MINIONS! YOUR NEW EVIL OVERLORD!" The voice - a rather... feminine voice at that - filled the room like a flash flood. "OBEY, OR I SHALL HAVE ALL OF YOUR HEADS AND STICK THEM ONTO REALLY POINTY STICKS!"

The blonde's eyes widened, both in a mix of fear and awe. Awe, because a giant, four-limbed robot had just landed on the roof of the main hall, the kind he had always found cool when reading sci-fi adventure books. And fear, because holy crap, a giant, four-limbed robot has just landed on the roof of the main hall, punched the dome into a million pieces, and threatened to kill them if they disobeyed!

Jaune's breath began to quicken. Oh gods, he didn't want to die on his first day! Not by some giant robot being piloted by someone that, admittedly, had a rather cute voice and unusual choice of words.

However, as his eyes looked around the hall, he noticed that he seemed to have been the only one in fear and freaking out. Everyone else had no reaction to the monumental, threatening robot, their faces either keeping a calm look, or even one of annoyance. The workers at the reception desk only glanced up at the robot one time, before continuing on with their work as if nothing had happened.

Only Val seemed to have had some kind of reaction to the likely killing machine above, albeit, it was more anger than fear.

"Oh, for the love of the Gods!" Val exclaimed, glaring at the robot as she pushed herself off the ground. "Nora, get down from there right now, young lady!"

"WHY SHOULD I FOLLOW SUCH A TINY HUMAN LIKE YOU, VALENTINA?" The voice, now known as Nora, boomed out, "I AM CURRENTLY THE ONE WHO HAS YOU UNDER MY GRASP! WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU? HMM?"

"Nora Valkyrie, if you don't put that giant robot back where you got it from right now, I swear to the gods, I will... uh... I will... Ah! I will have Ren put you on time-out for a whole day!"

The robot shifted backwards, seemingly recoiling from the threat. "W-WHAT? Y-YOU CAN'T DO THAT! THAT'S ILLEGAL! YOU AREN'T EVEN IN THE SAME DIVISION AS ME!"

"I can do it if I want to! It's not like Ren's my supervisor!"

"I... I..." Nora's words faltered. Jaune's previous fear had been washed away, now replaced by utter confusion and slight amusement. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, but there was a bit of entertainment he found seeing his sister get furious at a giant robot being piloted by a girl who had the lives of many, including his and Val's, right at her fingertips.

Eventually, Nora bellowed again, "O-OH YEAH? WELL, YOU CAN'T PUT ME ON TIME-OUT IF YOU CAN'T CATCH ME! HAHA!"

The thrusters on the back of the robot's cockpit ignited to life as its legs brought it into a crouch. With a loud, high-pitched hum, fire blasted from the thrusters, and the robot jumped straight into the air, flying up north and into the light gray clouds above.

"LATER, VAL!" Was the last message from Nora, soft and faraway from the distance she was quickly gaining.

"NORA! NORA!" Val called out to no avail. Her hands dropped to her side and she groaned, "Damn it, Nora."

Jaune picked himself up from the ground and walked to his sister's side. As he dusted himself off, he asked, "Who... in the hell was that?"

Val picked up her scroll from the ground. She punched in a few numbers and brought it up to her ear, ringing. "Hopefully someone who you won't have to deal with while you're working with me." She said, running her hand through her hair.

After a few more rings, the one she called finally picked up. "Yang! I need you to call in a Containment Unit! You already called one? Great! Look, I'm going after Nora. Have them track my scroll or something... Okay, thanks!"

Val ended the call, putting her scroll back into her pocket. She turned back to Jaune, gripping his shoulders. "Look, Jaune. I need to go deal with Nora for a bit. Why don't you go change and head to the orientation? I'll have someone else drop your bags off at the dorm. Alright? Okay, I gotta go. I'll see you after your orientation!"

"W-wait, what? Val! Wait! You haven't told me where the locker room is!" Jaune tried to call after her, but Val must have been too deaf or too far to hear him.

The now lone blonde watched his sister run down the past the reception desk and into the northern corridor, disappearing into the field of lab coats and winter clothes. Jaune's shoulder slumped. There was no way she just left him in a giant facility without directions, right? Her forgetfulness may have been a bit cruel to him before. But this was just too much.

Jaune waited for a minute, and then another, waiting for the unlikely possibility of his sister remembering and running back to him. But of course, it was as likely as getting struck by lightning thrice in the same place, and when he saw no sign of Val's tied up blonde hair, Jaune sighed, planting his face into his hands.

"Damn you, forgetfulness."

"What the hell happened here?" Jaune heard someone say in the distance, "Did that hyper girl from Grimm Research hijack one of the robots again?"

"Seems like it." Another one said, "How many times had that happened this week? Three? Four?"

"Six, I believe." The first voice sighed, "And it's still Wednesday."

Footsteps click-clacked away, softening as they got farther away. Jaune was now left alone. Again.

"Damn you too, Nora. Whoever you are."

* * *

Jaune was not having a good time.

It wasn't that he didn't like the Foundation. No, he absolutely loved the place, and was more than excited to start working here. It was nearly everything that he imagined it would be, minus the giant, man-operated, and apparently stolen robot whose pilot tried to rule over the Foundation as some kind of evil overlord. And even that incident was amazing enough on its own, if a bit crazy and horrifying.

No, Jaune was not having a good time, because Lady Luck seemed to hate him right now.

First off, he had been left alone by his sister to wander the West Wing for about an hour and a half, looking for the locker rooms. No matter which corridor he went, it would either end with a dead end or loop him back to where he was. Trekking through the whole wing felt walking through a maze blindfolded. It was maddening. He knew he shouldn't be blaming his sister due to her forgetfulness, but having to walk around an unfamiliar place probably looking like a complete idiot to everyone else around deserved some kind of leeway.

Soon enough though, he gave up on searching for the locker rooms and decided to look for a nearby guard for directions, which took a long time as well. Unfortunately, after finally finding one and asking for directions, he nearly ripped his hair out when he found out the locker rooms for those in the Robotics Divison were in the East Wing this whole time.

Second, Val must have forgotten she was a girl, because she had left the suit she got for him in her locker, which was in the _girl's locker room. _Jaune had almost wanted to jump off the edge of the island at that point, just to save himself from having his pride and reputation destroyed. Thankfully, there had been no one inside. But still, the constant stress of someone coming in and seeing some random blonde guy changing in the girl's locker room almost had his heart jumping out of his chest.

Third, and most definitely the most despised part of his day, he couldn't, for the life of him, get his goddamn tie on.

"Ugh, why do I have to wear this ridiculous tie?" He grumbled, fiddling with the dreaded accessory as he walked out of the locker room, now clad in a two-piece suit.

Whoever invented ties needed to die in a fire.

As he continued to suffer the torture of his tie, Jaune aimlessly wondered around the sterile-white halls of the East Wing. He would nod and grumble a greeting to the ocassional courteous scientist that passed by, though he was mostly focused on his tie, ignoring everything else around him.

Which was a mistake. A minute or two after the start of his aimless trek, he must have been walking past a few testing chambers. Weapons, most likely, judging by the number of muffled explosions and metallic _tings _and _shings_ that kept passing into and out his ears.

Anyway, as he subconsciously slowed his pace down at an empty crossway, there were the distant squeaks of brisk footsteps, getting louder and louder with each second, as if heading straight towards him. However, Jaune was too busy fiddling with his tie to even notice, and continued in his slow pace.

Eventually, amongst gradually increasing footsteps and the sound of whipping wind, a voice called out, "Look out!"

Jaune looked up from his tie. "Huh?"

A blur of red sped towards him like a cannonball. His eyes widened for a split-second, his reflexes screaming to dodge, but it was already too late. With a force of a speeding train, the blur hit him straight in the chest. Both let out pained grunts and yelps as they fell unceremoniously to the tiled floor. The sounds of their pained plumments echoed through the empty corridors.

"Ow..." Jaune groaned, the air knocked right out of him. The white ceiling above him was spinning, and his breaths came quick and shallow. After regaining himself for a bit, he tried to get up, but the searing pain in his chest stopped him from doing so, instead causing him to wince and fall back down to the floor.

_Great, more bruises. I wouldn't be surprised if I have a broken rib or two now. _He thought.

Eventually, after a few more seconds of recovery, he found out the pain in his chest wasn't the only thing keeping him pinned to the floor. Something shifted about on top of his stomach. A rather small hand gripped on his thigh, and he felt the the weight slowly rise from him.

"Owie..." His blue eyes looked down to his lower body, widening at the sight in front of him. A girl, looking no older than him, lifted herself off his stomach, a hand rubbing her now aching forehead, eyes closed as she winced. Her face was a bit pale, like she didn't go outside much, with dark, ruby-tipped hair that went down to one side, now tousled from their tumble.

She was kind of cute, if Jaune were to be honest.

The girl's eyes fluttered open, revealing a set of silver colored eyes that went unfocused for a moment. His eyebrows shot up, surprised. He had never seen anyone with silver colored eyes before, let alone get literally rammed by someone who has them.

Her eyes focused a second later with another flutter of her eyelids, which then stared right at him. She seemed to have noticed the situation they were in, for she yelped and immediately got off of him, shooting up to her feet in an almost invisible red blur.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She apologized as she bowed again and again, her voice so high-pitched it could have shattered glass.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Jaune pushed himself up from the floor, his feet wobbling a bit before he steadied himself. "I-It's fine..." He wheezed out, followed by a cough.

The girl gasped. "Oh no! I didn't hurt you too bad, did I? I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I was using my semblance through the halls, trying to find my way to the orientation, because my sister ditched me and left me in the East Wing all by myself, even though she would promise she would help me on my first day. And then I bumped into you because I wasn't looking, then you got hurt, and then, and then-"

"Okay, okay. Calm down! Calm down!" Jaune exclaimed, gripping her by the shoulders. The girl immediately stopped her tirade, snapping her mouth shut. Now that they were standing, the girl was much shorter than he was, only reaching up to his nose. It was made more apparent by how her charcoal coat and pencil skirt looked a size too big for her.

The blonde sighed in relief. "Look, I'm fine, okay? It doesn't hurt that much." He inwardly winced from a shot of pain, "Don't apologize too much, alright? And watch where you're going next time."

The girl nodded, then hung her head low. "Okay. Sorry again."

Ignoring her last apology, Jaune sighed. "Good. Now that that's over with, my name's Jaune." He said, pointing at himself with his thumb, "It's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

She giggled, placing a hand over her lips. Whether it was at his name or his line, he wouldn't know. "Well, nice to meet you, Jaune! My name's Ruby!" She said, extending an enthusiastic hand towards him.

He shook her hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you too, Ruby."

A moment or two passed by as an awkward silence hung around the two. Jaune was still trying to keep his smile up, while Ruby seemed to try to maintain eye contact with him, the two still shaking each other's hand. If there had been crickets around, they would have definitely started chirping.

"Well, this is awkward..." Ruby eventually said.

"Yeah... I agree..." He said, scratching the back of his head. Despite what others would have likely said, Jaune sucked at introductions, or anything involving social interaction really. Whenever he met a new person, he usually got as far as right now, before his brain went completely blank on what to do next. He never really got to practice his social skills. He was too focused on getting good grades back in robotics school, which was probably he rarely had any friends, and barely hung out with anyone other than his family.

Well, at least he wasn't the only one who sucked at being social right now.

As the two stood in the lingering awkwardness, Jaune racked his brain for something to do, but it mostly came up blank, like it usually did. Ironic how he knew how to assemble together a functioning robot, yet was blank on what to say to someone he just met.

Eventually, after a few moments, Jaune recalled something Ruby had said. "Hey, you said you were looking for the orientation, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Mhm."

"Well... wanna look for it together? I'm heading to the orientation myself, but I'm just as lost as you are right now. Heh." Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Plus, with two pairs of eyes, we could probably spot where it is easier."

The short girl seemed to have perked up at the suggestion, a smile climbing up her face. "Hey, that's a great idea! Come on, let's go!"

Ruby suddenly grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him forward as she began speedwalking down a random corridor. Her narrowed eyes darted all over the place on their search for the orientation, while Jaune simply tried to not trip and fall from how quick Ruby was going.

But nonetheless, a smile made its way to his face. Even if his first day at the Foundation started with a huge dose of crazy and a dash of mild frustration, Jaune felt like he was going fit right at home, especially with a fellow socially awkward person like Ruby.

_You know, I could get used to this._

Suddenly, Ruby paused her search for the orientation and stopped in her tracks, bringing the two in the middle of another barren corridor.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Ruby? What's wrong?" He asked.

The short girl stood stockstill, unresponsive for a second. When Jaune repeated his question, her eyes narrowed. "Wait, can't we just ask a guard where the orientation is?"

It took a moment for the blonde to process her words, and when he finally got it, a mix of epiphany and exasperation took over his face.

He groaned, dragging a hand down his face, "And we both somehow managed to get accepted into White Spire..."

* * *

**A/N: Had a hard time with this one. Being busy with school, I had to write this on and off. Sometimes my writing skills would be normal, other times I would suck like a vacuum on max.**

**Also, as you may have noticed, I've changed the first chapter a bit. Nothing too much, just a few things at the ending.**

**Anyway, here's hoping I don't get writer's block and make the bi-weekly deadline. Constructive reviews are always appreciated.**

**~Christian Maulkner**


End file.
